1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a recording and/or reproducing apparatus for recording and/or reproducing various kinds of information signals, such as digital image signals and the like, on a recording medium, such as a magnetic tape or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Apparatuses have been generally known which record various kinds of digital signals, such as image signals, voice signals and the like, on a magnetic tape carried within a small cassette. In such a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, the above-described information signals are transmitted through a transmission system within the apparatus at a predetermined speed, and signal processing and other kinds of processing, such as recording/reproducing processing and the like, are performed.
It is preferred that the transmission speed of a signal in the above-described magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus is low in consideration of processing speeds of various kinds of signals.
However, if the transmission speed is lowered, a long time is needed for recording when recording an image signal which has a large amount of information.
That is, if the transmission speed is set to about 768 Kbits (kilobits)/sec {2(ch).times.32 (KHz (kilohertzs)).times.12 (bits)} which is sufficient for the transmission of a voice signal, a time of about 4.8 seconds is needed for recording an image signal for one frame 3.7 Mbits (megabits){640 (picture elements).times.480 (picture elements).times.1.5 (Y+C)}! which is more or less sufficient as an image signal.
Accordingly, when, for example, the above-described magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus is used for an electronic still-picture camera, the camera has the disadvantage that the shutter timing is restricted, and hence a successive photographing function (which is an indispensable function for a camera) is also restricted.
The above-described disadvantage due to the slow transmission speed also causes a problem in a reproducing operation as well as in a recording operation because a long time is needed for a reproducing operation.
Furthermore, the use of a magnetic tape as a recording medium has the disadvantage that more time is needed for searching for recording and reproducing positions, causing inconvenience to the user.